Supporting unit



D. W. BAIRD SUPPORTING UNIT Filed May 26, 1967 X "R f l L J I a 3Sheets-Sheet 1 m/m /vrw? DAV/.0 M4 BA/AD Aug. 12,- 1969 0. w. BAIRD3,460,790

SUPPORTING UNIT I Filed May 26, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. DAV/0 n46/4/RD Aug. 12, 1969 D. w. BAIRD SUPPORTING UNIT 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledMay 26, 1967 INVENTOR. DA W0 W 8/1/20 United States Patent 3,460,790SUPPORTING UNIT David W. Baird, 1954 Indianola Ave., Columbus, Ohio43201 Filed May 26, 1967, Ser. No. 641,656 Int. Cl. A47f 7/00 US. Cl.248-165 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bookshelf support or thelike formed from a pair of identical blanks made of inexpensive materialsuch as corrugated board. The device is characterized by each of theblanks comprising 'an end wall, a pair of side walls joined to said endwall along respective fold lines, a foldable end flap on each side Wall,and a slot in each side wall. The identical blanks then may be folded tofit together to form a strong but light support.

The present invention relates generally to supporting units andparticularly to a novel bookshelf support or the like formed from a pairof identical novel blanks.

In general, the improved and novel blank is formed from inexpensivesheet material such as corrugated board and comprises an end wall, apair of side walls joined to said end wall along respective fold lines,a foldable end flap on each side Wall, and a slot in each side wall. Theidentical blanks then may be folded to fit together to form a strong butlight support.

The blanks thus constructed comprise rigid sturdy units which can beused to support book shelves or the like in spaced relationship.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bookshelf supportor the like which may be formed from identical blanks to provide astrong but light supporting unit.

It is another object of the present invention to provide novel blanks ofsimple design which form a novelly constructed supporting unit usinginexpensive material such as a corrugated board or the like which may bedie stamped and scored thereby reducing costs to a minimum.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an inexpensiveyet strong bookshelf support or the like which may be printed in avariety of colors and patterns to provide an attractive, pleasingappearance to the user.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide abookshelf support or the like which may be fabricated in a simple, rapidmanner without the aid of adhesives or the like.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bookshelfsupport constructed in a novel manner wherein a pair of corrugatedidentical blanks are adapted to fit into one another in an intersectingand reinforcing relationship to achieve a high degree of strength.

Further objects and advantages of the present inven tion will beapparent from the following description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of embodiment of theinvention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of a blank for a bookshelf or the likeconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the blank shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a bookshelf support or thelike illustrating a pair of blanks each identical to the blank shown inFIG. 1 and assembled in accordance with the present invention; and

,. ice

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bookshelf support shown in FIG. 3illustrating the use of such a support with a pair of bookshelves.

Referring in detail to the drawings, a blank, indicated generally at 20and preferably formed of corrugated board or the like, is illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2. Blank 20 may be inexpensively manufactured in volume bydie stamping and scoring and includes an end wall 22 and a pair of sidewalls 24 provided with end flaps 26.

End wall 22 is defined Within a pair of fold lines formed by parallelgrooves 28 to enable side Walls 24 to be folded inwardly toward oneanother.

Side walls 24 and end flaps 26 are delineated by another pair of foldlines 30 formed by a score to facilitate folding end flaps 26 outwardlyaway from one another.

Each side wall 24 also includes a slot 32 preferably disposed half-waybetween fold lines 28 and 30.

Now referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 an identical pair of blanks 20 and 20Aare shown folded and assembled in accordance with the present invention.

Side walls 24 and 24A have been folded along the respective fold lines28 and 28A to form at least an acute angle with a respective end wall 22or 22-A with a respective end flap 26 or 26-A converging toward oneanother in adjacent relationship.

Each end flap 26 and 26-A is folded along respective fold lines 30 and30-A outwardly away from one another in a plane substantially parallelto the plane formed by a respective end wall 22 or 22-A.

In the embodiment shown, the respective slots 32 and 32A extend half-Waydown from the border of respective side Walls 24 and 24-A. However, thedepths of the slots could be varied to achieve the same result but thenthe blanks would not be identical and a different die would have to beused for each blank.

To assemble a bookshelf support from the blanks described above oneblank slides into the other such that the end flaps 26 are adjacent toend wall 22-A and end flaps 26-A are adjacent to end wall 22.

Side walls 24 and 24-A intersect one another along the respective slots32 and 32-A to form a complete assembly as illustrated in FIG. 4.

End walls 22 and 22-A are provided with extended lip portions 34 and34-A which permit a bookshelf 36 to fit snuggly between opposite lipportions and to prevent the shelf from moving in a lateral direction.

It should be understood from the foregoing description that thesupporting strength of the bookshelf support constructed in accordancewith the present invention when using conventional corrugated board ishigh, approximately 300 pounds dead weight, relative to the; type ofmaterial used. Further, it is very light to handle and transport and maybe made in 'a variety of colors and patterns to provide a verydecorative and pleasing appearance.

It should also be pointed out that the identical blanks 20 and 20A areadapted to rapid inexpensive manufacture in volume and the assembly of apair of blanks is accomplished in a simple manner.

It is important to point out that the design of the blanks provide for areinforcing relationship to exist between each pair of blanks when apair are assembled in the manner described herein to provide a stable,very sturdy, supporting unit of extremely low cost.

The dimensions B, C, and D shown in FIG. 1 may vary according to thedimensions of the bookshelf 36 for which they are intended. Thedimension B is slightly greater than the width of the bookshelf 36 suchthat end walls 22 and 22-A fit snugly over the side of the bookshelf.The dimension D varies according to the height desired between shelves36 and the dimension C need only be wide enough to provide a sufficientbase for stability but may be varied over the required minimum to suitany design or appearance desired.

The dimension A preferably is substantially one-half the dimension C orslightly less such that end flaps 26 and 26A easily fit between sidewalls 24 and 24A and abut the end wall of the other blank 20 or 20-A.The end flaps then contribute the maximum in reinforcement of the endwalls and the maximum supporting strength for a respective thickness andtype of material is achieved. However, this dimension could be variedeven to the point of omitting end flaps 26, but then the supportingstrength and stability of the supporting unit is substantially reduced.

The depths of slots 32 and 32-A represented by the dimension E couldalso be varied from approximately one-half the dimension D andsubstantially no supporting strength would be lost. However, if thedimension E is changed from one-half of D, then the slots 32 and 32A canno longer be equal and the blanks 20 and 20-A cannot be formed in anidentical manner. This would necessitate another die or possibly anotherstep in the manufacture of the blanks and therefore would increase costsunnecessarily.

I claim:

1. A bookshelf supporting unit of the like comprising, in combination, apair of identical blanks preformed from flat sheet-like material, eachblank being folded to form an end wall and a pair of side wallsadjoining said end wall at fold lines, each respective side wall of oneof said blanks intersecting a respective side wall of the other of saidblanks in reinforcing relationship along a respective slot with saidblanks being disposed in opposite facing directions relative to oneanother, said side walls of each blank being convergent from theirrespective end wall to locations adjacent the opposite end wall.

2. The bookshelf supporting unit defined in claim 1 wherein said slotsare disposed substantially equidistant from the ends of said side walls.

3. The bookshelf supporting unit defined in claim 1 wherein said sidewalls of each blank include end flaps that are substantially one-half aswide as said end wall.

4. The bookshelf supporting unit defined in claim 1 wherein the top andbottom edges of said end walls include lip portions extending beyond therespective top and bottom edges of said side walls.

5. A bookshelf supporting unit or the like comprising, in combination,first and second p-re-formed blank portions, each including an end wall;a pair of side walls, each connected at one end to said end wall along arespective fold line and being folded inwardly toward one another todefine an acute angle with said end wall, said side walls includingoutwardly folded end flaps and a slot extending parallel to said foldlines along said end wall; said first and second portions forming asupport when joined together with the end flaps of said first portionadjacently disposed to the end wall of said second portion and the endflaps of said second portion adjacently disposed to the end wall of saidfirst portion, each of said side walls of one of said portionsintersecting with a respective side wall of the other portion along arespective slot.

6. The bookshelf supporting unit defined in claim 5 wherein said slotsare disposed substantially equidistant from the ends of said side walls.

7. The bookshelf supporting unit defined in claim 5 wherein said endflaps are substantially one-half as wide as said end wall.

8. The bookshelf supporting unit defined in claim 5 wherein the top andbottom edges of said end walls include lip portions extending beyond therespective top and bottom edges of said side walls.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,100,979 11/1937 Rowe 2974422,615,771 10/1952 Curtis 248- 2,707,514 5/1955 Smith 297442 2,806,5149/1957 Smith 297-442 FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

